Gertrude Hoffmann (actress)

Gertrude W. Hoffmann (born Eliza Gertrude Wesselhoeft; May 17, 1871 – February 13, 1968) was a German-born American character actress who began her Hollywood career as she was entering her later years.

Note: Often confused with Gertrude H. Hoffman, the American-born dancer.
Gertrude W. Hoffmann
Born
Eliza Gertrude Wesselhoeft

(1871-05-17)May 17, 1871
DiedFebruary 13, 1968(1968-02-13) (aged 96)
OccupationCharacter Actress
Years active1933-1963
Spouse(s)Ralph Hoffmann (1870-1932; his death); 3 children
ChildrenEleanor Hoffmann (1895-1990)
Walter Wesselhoeft Hoffmann (1897-1977)
Gertrude "Trude" Hoffmann (1904-2008)

Family

Hoffmann was born on May 17, 1871,[1] at Heidelberg (German Empire), the daughter of Walter and Mary Sara Silver (née Fraser) Wesselhoeft.[2][3] Her father was a German-born doctor who at the time of her birth had left his medical practice in Halifax, Nova Scotia, behind to volunteer his services after the outbreak of the Franco-Prussian War. He returned to North America in early 1873 and opened a general practice in Cambridge, Massachusetts, where Gertrude was raised along with her six siblings.

Though German by birth, Dr. Wesselhoeft was raised in Cambridge where a number of his relatives had established themselves in the medical community there. He received his medical degree from Harvard University in 1859 and upon graduation began his practice in Halifax. In time he became associated with the Massachusetts Homeopathic Hospital and a frequent lecturer at Boston University Medical School.[4] At the time of his death in 1920, aged 80, Dr. Wesselhoeft was Emeritus Professor of Clinical Medicine in the School of Medicine, a position he had held since 1908.[5]

Mary Fraser was a native of Halifax, and died in 1886, around the age of 40.[6][7][8][9] Dr. Wesselhoeft remarried in 1896 to Mary A. Leavitt, a native of Lowell, Massachusetts, and only a few years older than his eldest child.[10][11] Gertrude's youngest sister, Eleanor Wesselhoeft (1882–1945),[12] was a stage actress and playwright who also found some success late in life as a character actor in Hollywood.[13][14] Eleanor was married to Albert Christian Henderson von Tornow (1867–1938), a Shakespearean actor who performed under the stage name Albert Henderson.[15]

Marriage

On June 23, 1894, in Cambridge, Massachusetts, Gertrude married Ralph Hoffmann (1870–1932), a native of Stockbridge, whose family had emigrated from Germany a generation earlier. He was a teacher of natural history and had a keen interest in ornithology. He co-founded the Alstead School of Natural History in Alstead, New Hampshire, and taught there for several summers while the rest of his year was spent teaching at Buckingham Browne and Nichols in Cambridge.[16]

From the spring of 1910 until 1917, he was headmaster of the Country Day School founded by Vassie Ward (1875-1954) in Kansas City, Missouri. He later was named director of the Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History in California. Ralph Hoffmann died from a fall while on a scientific expedition to California's Channel Islands in 1932.[17][18]

The couple had two daughters and a son. Eleanor Hoffmann was born on December 21, 1895, in Belmont, Massachusetts, and died on December 20, 1990, in Santa Barbara, California. Walter Wesselhoeft Hoffmann was born on December 20, 1897, in Belmont, Massachusetts, and died on May 7, 1977, in Cambridge, Massachusetts. And their youngest child, Gertrude "Trudy" Hoffmann, was born on April 2, 1904, in Belmont, Massachusetts. Trudy married British composer Sir Arthur Bliss on June 1, 1925, in Santa Barbara, California, and relocated to London, England, where she lived until her death in 2008.[19]

Acting career

Gertrude W. Hoffmann's first Hollywood role was playing Mattie in Before Dawn that premiered on August 4, 1933. She would go on to have a thirty-year career as a character actor appearing in a number of movies and television shows. Among her credits are such films as Alfred Hitchcock's Foreign Correspondent, which was nominated for Best Picture Oscar in 1941, as well as The File on Thelma Jordon (1950), Caged (1950), and The War of the Worlds (1953). She played Mrs. Odetts in the 1950s sitcom My Little Margie and made her final performance in an episode of the sitcom Car 54, Where Are You? that aired in 1963.

Death

Gertrude W. Hoffmann died on February 13, 1968 in Santa Barbara, California. She was interred at Grand View Memorial Park Cemetery in Glendale, California.[20][21]

Filmography

Year Title Role Notes
1917Ein nasses Abenteuer
1918The Blue LanternHilde
1919Prinzessin TatjanahTatjana
1919Sie können bei mir schlafen
1919Heddas Rache
1919Prostitution
1919Die ums Leben spielenIlona
1920Das Geheimnis der Mitternachtsstunde
1920Tagebuch meiner Frau
1920Auri Sacra Fames, 1. Teil - An der Liebe Narrenseil
1920Humanity UnleashedRita, Clarenbachs Frau
1920Auri Sacra Fames, 2. Teil - Das Testament eines Exzentrischen
1920Satans Peitsche
1920Rafaello - Das Rätsel von Kopenhagen 1
1920Lepain - 6. Teil
1920Lepain - 5. Teil
1920Lepain, der König der Verbrecher - 4. Teil
1920Lepain, der König der Verbrecher - 3. Teil
1920Der Spitzel
1920Der Schrecken der Millionäre
1921Die Ratten
1921Das Gewissen der Welt, 1. Teil - Schattenpflanzen der GroßstadtDama
1921The Handicap of Love
1921Kaschemmenadel
1922Louise de LavallièreMarquise François Athenais von Montespan
1922Der Fall Gembalsky
1923Die Schlucht des TodesCountess Gabriela
1933Before DawnMattie
1933Hell and High WaterMom Wealin
1934I'll Tell the WorldAunt LouiseUncredited
1934The Cat's-PawMrs. Noon - Cobb's LandladyUncredited
19346 Day Bike RiderOld LadyUncredited
1935Les MisérablesNurseUncredited
1936A Son Comes HomeEffie Wimple
1936The Gentleman from LouisianaMiss Langley
1937Mountain JusticeGranny BurnsideUncredited
1938Cassidy of Bar 20Ma Caffrey
1939Laugh It OffCarrieUncredited
1940East Side KidsOld Lady in MontageUncredited
1940UntamedMiss Rhine
1940Foreign CorrespondentMrs. Benson
1940The ApeJane - Adrian's Housekeeper
1941LydiaMrs. FairfieldUncredited
1941One Foot in HeavenElderly WomanUncredited
1941SuspicionMrs. WetherbyUncredited
1941No Hands on the ClockPasserby Below ClockUncredited
1942North of the RockiesFlora Bailey
1942The Wife Takes a FlyerMrs. GruysonUncredited
1942Texas Trouble ShootersGranny Wilson
1942I Married an AngelLady GimcrackUncredited
1942TishSpinsterUncredited
1942Commandos Strike at DawnElderly Village WomanUncredited
1943The Moon Is DownVillagerUncredited
1943Dr. Gillespie's Criminal CaseGrandmotherUncredited
1943A Guy Named JoeOld WomanUncredited
1943What a Woman!Night MaidUncredited
1944The Heavenly BodyMrs. Potter's MotherUncredited
1945The ClockOld Woman PainterUncredited
1946The Bride Wore BootsMrs. Harvey - Mason-Dixon Dames Club WomanUncredited
1947CaliforniaOld WomanUncredited
1947Welcome StrangerMiss WendyUncredited
1949Roseanna McCoyOld Woman at CampfireUncredited
1950The File on Thelma JordonAunt Vera Edwards
1950CagedMillie LewisUncredited
1951The Company She KeepsMrs. KaufmanUncredited
1951Close to My HeartMrs. MadisonUncredited
1953The War of the WorldsElderly News VendorUncredited
1955Not as a StrangerMrs. PaytonUncredited

References

  1. California Death Index
  2. US Passport Application - October 15, 1889
  3. 1880-1900 US Census Records
  4. Cleveland Medical and Surgical Reporter, Volume 17-1906
  5. Bostonia: Volumes 19-21
  6. US Passport Application - 15 October 1889
  7. 1880-1900 US Census Records
  8. Walter Wesselhoeft - History of Homœopathy Biographies Presented by Sylvain Cazalet
  9. Anniversary report, Volumes 3-4 by Harvard College; Class of 1890
  10. US Passport Application for Mary Leavitt Wesselhoeft, April 17, 1922
  11. 1900 US Census Records
  12. California Death Jindex
  13. IMDb.com
  14. 1900 US Census Records
  15. The Hartford Courant, December 29, 1938
  16. Anniversary report, Volumes 3-4 By Harvard College; Class of 1890
  17. North Adams Transcript (July 23, 1932)
  18. The Nevada State Journal (July 23, 1932)
  19. The Berkshire Eagle (Pittsfield, Massachusetts), March 28, 1975
  20. Ellenberger, Allan R. (2001). Celebrities in Los Angeles Cemeteries: A Directory. Jefferson, N.C.: McFarland & Company. p. 104. ISBN 9780786409839.
  21. Wilson, Scott (2016). Resting Places: The Burial Sites of More Than 14,000 Famous Persons. Jefferson, N.C.: McFarland & Company. p. 345. ISBN 9780786479924.
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